Comments on: Smart Companies and Dumb Things http://innovationzen.com/blog/2006/09/12/smart-companies-and-dumb-things/ Innovation Management, Business Strategy, Technology and more! Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:44:36 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: John Caddell http://innovationzen.com/blog/2006/09/12/smart-companies-and-dumb-things/comment-page-1/#comment-310 John Caddell Wed, 13 Sep 2006 19:09:55 +0000 http://innovationzen.com/blog/2006/09/12/smart-companies-and-dumb-things/#comment-310 Daniel, one area that's not mentioned in your post or Guy's as a reason for dumb decisions is an overly internal focus. Not being able to see/judge your company as others do can lead to staggeringly dumb decisions. Exhibit A from this week: HP's decision to hire a private investigation company to spy on its directors. (Didn't anyone run this idea by their spouse? If I were an HP director and told my wife about this idea, she would have given me the look that says ARE YOU NUTS? and I would have given up on the idea immediately.) I also think the title of the book is interesting: "Why Smart Companies Do Dumb Things." I never found companies in and of themselves to be very smart. At minimum, companies don't aggregate the smarts of their employees very well. Daniel, one area that’s not mentioned in your post or Guy’s as a reason for dumb decisions is an overly internal focus. Not being able to see/judge your company as others do can lead to staggeringly dumb decisions. Exhibit A from this week: HP’s decision to hire a private investigation company to spy on its directors. (Didn’t anyone run this idea by their spouse? If I were an HP director and told my wife about this idea, she would have given me the look that says ARE YOU NUTS? and I would have given up on the idea immediately.)

I also think the title of the book is interesting: “Why Smart Companies Do Dumb Things.” I never found companies in and of themselves to be very smart. At minimum, companies don’t aggregate the smarts of their employees very well.

]]>